Winemaker Stephen Osborn of Stoutrdige Vineyards Town Supervisor of Marlboro

Congratulations to Stephen Osborn of Stoutridge Vineyards who in November was eleceted the Town Supervisor, which is the equivilent of mayor in other municipalities. He has been on the lanning board for many years. Our sincerest congratulations to Steve and Kim, and continued success - both politically and as a winery. Happy New Year! p.s. He is now the Honorable Stphen Osborn. Congrats! pps. Steve is the tall guy in the middle!

New face of Marlborough
January 4th, 2012
Mid-Hudson Times
By MARK REYNOLDS
mreynolds@tcnewspapers.com


With domino-like precision, Town Justice Nicholas Pascale administered the oath of office to Justice Eleanor Gallagher, who in turn swore in Town Clerk Colleen Corcoran who then handled the rest – Supervisor Stephen Osborn and Town Councilmen Ed Molinelli and Scott Corcoran.

“I have been spending the last month and a half preparing and getting my ducks in a row,” he said. “I feel like things are already running, things are already moving and I am ready to roll on.”

Osborn said the immediate issue before the board is the two residential development projects – Bayside and Dockside “and how those are going to be resolved.”

“We [also] have the issue of the water,” he said. “We’re trying to become self-sufficient in the town water supply. “We’re also in negotiations with health care with both the Police and Highway [Depts.] and I think that’s a pretty pivotal negotiation going on there. [It] will set the tone on how health care is going to end up working out in the town in the future.”

To further show his belief in self sufficiency, Osborn said he is investigating the viability of installing tidal hydro-electric generation at the new park at the riverfront in Milton.

“We have the wharf that’s in deep, highly tidal water,” he said. “There are other entities nearby that have the same sort of situation that we think we can do in a group effort. I’d like to see those two things; self-sufficiency in water and power would be very nice.”

As a new town councilman, Scott Corcoran described his feelings succinctly – “excited, nervous, anxious but ready to get to the work for the citizens of Marlborough,” he said.

“I’ll give them the voice they deserve and hopefully I can accomplish that this year,” he said.

Corcoran said the Bayside and Dockside projects are pressing.

“I think we’re really going to be looking into the zoning [and] Steve [Osborn] wants to look into the Route 9W corridor,” Corcoran said. “I think that’s going to be a big thing.”

Corcoran said the board will resurrect the Economic Development Committee.

“I talked to Steve about it and that’s something that we’re doing,” he said. “We’re going to try to get businesses in here to support the tax base of Marlborough.”

Corcoran said he believes that in 2012 a referendum will be placed before the voters on a new Town Hall at the TOMVAC building “and their voice will be heard.”

Corcoran said he is hopeful the board can broker a deal with the school district, in a municipal agreement, to share office space at the TOMVAC building. He said the sharing of funds would avoid “hitting the taxpayer twice.”

“That’s something we’re definitely interested in doing,” he said, noting that the district has only a year left on their lease at the Pinnacle building “so that would have to be addressed promptly.”

Corcoran said the town website will be completely revamped within the next few months to make it more user-friendly.

“There are a lot of things ahead of us,” he said. “It’s going to be a busy four years, but I’m up for the challenge.”

Ed Molinelli, who was elected to a second term as town councilman, said he is looking forward to completing “unfinished business” in the next four years.

Molinelli said “I have a lot of opinions” on the Dockside and Bayside projects that are now before the Town Board.

“There are certain parts of it that I think are good and certain parts I think are bad,” he said, indicating that he feels they need to be amended. “I am in favor of the projects, but not as they exist.” He said he is worried about the increase in traffic to the area and the impacts upon the schools.

“That is something they [developers] have to bring to us with every thing they do,” he said. “If they don’t give us the right answers to our questions then we have to scale back the project.”

He said even if scaled back to half the number of units requested, he believes they would be economically viable and would attract needed businesses to the hamlet. He added that an important part of the economic picture is to begin installing infrastructure in the Route 9W corridor.

Molinelli favors a new Town Hall at the TOMVAC building and will support an initiative to the voters this year. He pointed out that the time is right for bonding, as the rates are quite low.

“It would be crazy not to do it at this point,” he said, adding that if the town delays, the rates and costs of construction will only rise.

Molinelli said as councilman he likes interacting with the residents.

“When I help them, it helps me a lot,” he said. “It’s giving back to my community because I have been here for so long. Now they talked me into it [running for office] and I really do enjoy it.”

New Town Clerk Colleen Corcoran said, “I want to do the best I can for our town and serve them as well as Natalie [Felicello] has served them in the past.”

Corcoran said she has “a lot to live up to” in light of Felicello’s 21 years of dedicated service before deciding to retire.

In December, Deputy Town Clerk Michelle Giametta also retired and Karen S. George will be filling that position. St. George is a recent transplant from New Jersey and had sent her résumé in to town hall. In the Garden State, St. George handled secretarial duties for planning and zoning boards as well as for the local historic preservation society.

“I’m a little nervous but am looking forward to it,” she said.

Corcoran said “We’re going to our best to do as well as they have in the past.”

Corcoran has started her position in the busiest time of the year with the collection of taxes, which will run until May.

“It should be an interesting first year, at least, to do everything and do my best,” she said.

In 2012 Judge Gallagher will be entering her 28th year of service to Marlborough.

“I do find it rewarding when you can turn people around, especially young people,” she said. “Ninety percent of the people – win, lose or draw – they walk away with a good feeling, when they feel like they’ve been treated fairly. Five percent hate you no matter what you do and the other five percent I can’t account for.”

Gallagher said the work of a judge is rewarding “but it’s getting more complicated and more and more the state is giving us mandates of what we have to do.”

Gallagher said this has created additional paper work for her office but her part-time secretary is working to meet all of the requirements.


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